A/N: I unpacked a lot in this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it and don't hate me too much by the end. I'll happily answer any questions you have so long as it doesn't require any major spoilers.

XXX

Katsuki's point of view- The day before Sunday

I AM A FUCKING HERO DAMNIT! But sometimes, even heroes need to get their hands dirty to do the right thing. Figuring out why Auntie Inko led me to a fucking hospital and then snubbed me like some second-rate extra is absolutely the right thing! So, what if I snuck back into the hospital several hours later, after the guard's shift was over. And so fucking what if while thinking up a plan I happened to come across a doctor's lab coat and put it on without a second thought. I need to find Deku's room and I need authority to do that, so fuck right and wrong and technical legalities. This is some plus ultra shit and UA should be fucking proud of me for taking their moto to heart.

Fortunately for me, I'm tall for my age and my angular "asshole brat" features as the Hag likes to put it, make me look older than I actually am. I stride through the lobby, exuding confidence as I make my way to the elevators. The closer I get to the guard, the more rattled my nerves are but like hell am I going to let that stop me. As long as he doesn't ask for my employee badge, I should be clear. I nod my head in his direction as I pass, and…. He does the same! I exhale as soon as I step into the elevator, relieved I've made it this far.

Next pain in the ass, where do I go from here? There are 15 rounded buttons to choose from and since I have no idea where Deku is, I decide to go to the second floor and figure it out from there. The elevator dings as the doors open, and I step out to survey my surroundings. There's a floor directory plastered to the wall. From the looks of it, this floor is dedicated toward imaging services. He's definitely not on this floor but there is a check in desk.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

I assumed I'd get a lot further than this before some extra comes at me like the goddamn inquisition. I glare over to the bastard standing next to me, and as soon as we make eye contact, I notice he starts to quake. Interesting. "Tch, what is it?" I'm going to play this like I belong here until I have a concrete reason not to.

"Oh, wow. You seem really young for a doctor." He's staring intently at me now, not with suspicion but with awe. He's wearing baby blue scrubs, his name tag prominently displayed for me to see. His name's Soga and according to his badge, he's an intern.

"I'm a fucking genius. Is this what you crawled over here to pester me about? I'm busy…" That's right, I own this place.

"Sorry! It was rude of me to ask. It's just… I'm having some difficulty with a patient and-"

"Don't you have an attending you answer to?" I need to shut this down right the fuck now.

"Yes, but I couldn't find him and it's important."

"Whatever question you have, you should take it up with the guy mentoring you and that's not me, dipshit." I might be pushing the envelope here but fuck it. This is kind of fun.

"R-right! I'm so sorry to bother you!" He bows to me and scampers off, muttering "follow the chain of command, follow the chain of command" like some kind of mantra.

With him out of the way, I continue to the check in desk. There's one woman sitting there, smiling wide as I approach. She has thick, auburn hair, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and forehead and greyish green irises that remind me of the spiny leaves of a curry plant.

"Oi! I need the room number for a patient." I'm just going to go for it. It's all or nothing at this point.

"Hmm? A room number? Couldn't you get that information yourself?" Her eyes narrow almost imperceptibly with a sort of annoyed resistance. I don't miss a beat, my backup response ready to go.

"Of course, I fucking can but I'm asking you to do it so how about you do your damn job!" She looks like she wants to argue with me, her rigid demeanor and frosty stare says as much.

"What's the patient's name?" Her tone is sharp, she looks like she wants to strangle me.

"Midoriya, Izuku." I say simply.

Her fingers race over her keyboard, and in moments I see a page pop up on her computer screen with the picture of the nerd in the upper right-hand corner.

"He's in room 909."

Without responding, I turn back to the elevators. I can hear her exasperated huff behind me, but I'm not concerned. I now have everything I need to uncover the truth, and no one is going to get in my way this time. The elevator can't ascend fast enough, I'm pacing back and forth, and my stomach is twisting in knots. Right as I make it to the ninth floor, a realization hits me, forcing me to pause in my haste.

I'm at a hospital. My search for Deku brought me to a fucking hospital. If he's here and this is where he's been going this whole time, something is not right. The very idea is enough to make me question this entire escapade. If I find out what's going on, I'll never be able to unlearn it. I get the feeling it's something big, something life changing. I mull over that idea as I count the patient rooms- 906, 907, 908, 909.

A glass sliding door and a curtain are the last two obstacles blocking me from the truth. I've never been one to hesitate and my hand definitely didn't falter as the pads of my fingers pressed into the cool metal of the handle. A shiver raced down my spine as I slid the door open, my mouth feeling bone dry and my free hand clenching into a tight fist. I moved around the curtain, trying not to disturb it and make unnecessary noise, making sure every step I take is soft and soundless.

I look straight ahead and finally, fucking finally, I'm face to face with that damn, elusive nerd. It only takes a moment for everything else to register, his mom sleeping soundly next to him, the machine he's hooked up to that seems to be circulating his blood… Is that a fucking dialysis machine? The weight of what I've discovered is increasing by the second, the more I take in the harder it becomes to just stand there staring like a jackass. My head feels fuzzy, I swallow thickly before opening my mouth to speak.

"What the hell, nerd!" Eloquent, I know.

Of course, my outburst wakes up Auntie. It takes her half a second to realize what's happening before she levels me with the most lethal glare I think I've ever seen. Deku, for once in his life, seems to be completely speechless. He's nervously looking from me to his mother and back to me like he's not sure who's about to blow up first. By the looks of it, I'd say her fuse is considerably shorter than mine at the moment. She takes in a deep breath, and I know I'm about to get the scolding of a lifetime. Whatever, bring it on.

"Katsuki! How did you…. I thought I made it clear you were not to come here." She rubs both of her hands roughly over her face in frustration. "You need to leave, now."

"Mom! It's fine. He doesn't have to go."

"No, Izuku. It's not fine. Katsuki, please just leave." She's still trying to maintain some semblance of control over her anger, forcing her to voice shake with each and every utterance.

"Fuck that. I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers." I cross my arms over my chest and hold my head high. I refuse to back down. Despite my bravado, I'm wound so tight I feel like I might break. I haven't even had a fucking chance to process what I've just seen.

"This doesn't concern you…. How'd you even get in here in the first place? Didn't the guards escort you out?" She's standing now like a mother bear preparing to protect her cub. She looks like she's preparing to push me out of Deku's room if she needs to.

"Tch." I don't have to answer that, and I don't intend to. The nerd doesn't need to know what I did to get here.

"Mom, really. It's-"

"Izuku, no. You've always been too lenient with him. I love the Bakugous, you know that. But that doesn't mean I was oblivious to the hell he put you through during middle school and I'm sure it carried over in UA too. You are under enough stress as it is, and I don't want his brazen attitude making things even harder for you while you're in the hospital."

A tense silence follows because, fuck, I don't know what to say to that. She's fucking right. I bullied him in middle school just because I could, and I definitely didn't go easy on him in UA either. I peer over to Deku and shit, he doesn't look like he knows what to say to that either. My feet start backing away, one step at a time.

"Kacchan…" I can hear him calling to me, but I can't make sense of it.

She's right, I know she's right. What am I even doing here? I take another step back. Whatever he's going through, our tumultuous relationship couldn't be good for it. My back hits the curtain, and like a little bitch, I duck under it and run. I ran away from Auntie's accusatory glare. I ran away from Deku's secret illness. I ran away from the guilt boiling intensely inside me, sucking the air from my lungs and forcing my heart to beat erratically against my chest.

The borrowed lab coat is discarded in my haste, it's not like I'll need that anymore anyway. Before I know it, I'm back in the lobby on the ground floor. I feel like I might start to hyperventilate. This is some serious crisis shit and I don't know how the fuck to handle it. There's a red chair by one of the windows and I practically fall into it when I go to sit. My pounding head hangs low between my knees, I try to take in deep breaths. The guilt is eating me alive. The things I did to him… was he sick the whole time? I don't know how long I stay this way before I hear the gentle pad of feet striding toward me.

"Katsuki?" It's Auntie. She sounds softer than she did before, and I wonder if she's come down here to make sure I really left.

Slowly, I lift my head to look at her. She seems concerned. Of course she would, her son's in the fucking hospital. He's getting dialysis. That's… that's kidney failure shit, right? To my surprise, she doesn't yell at me again. Instead she sits in the chair next to mine and pats my lap. There are tears in her eyes and from the burning in my own I have a feeling there might be some in mine too.

"That was rude of me, Katsuki. Please forgive me."

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Auntie. I shouldn't have come here."

"Maybe, but you are here now and the way I spoke to you was unacceptable. I am tired and stressed but that's no excuse." She sighs, the sound alone conveys more despair than I think I've ever experienced in my short life. "I know you and Izuku have a very…. Strange relationship. He doesn't fault you for anything you've done to him and he's told me about how you both have become closer over this past year. That sweet boy of mine has always sung your praises, you know. Especially lately. He thinks you're amazing." She laughs at that and I can't tell if it's ironic or genuine.

"Yeah, it used to piss me off. Still kind of does."

Another bubble of laughter, and I find myself chuckling right along with her. She wipes at her eyes with her hand before resting it on my shoulder. "I know you've been playing quite the detective, looking for answers and if you still want to know, I'll tell you." Her fingers suddenly dug into my shoulder, her grip firming and becoming kind of uncomfortable. "But if you hurt him or do anything that negatively impacts his health, I will end you." There's fire in her eyes and I know she means every word.

"Yeah, I'd like to know." I may end up regretting those words one day.

"My husband, Hisashi travels all around Japan for work." Well this isn't where I was expecting this to go but okay… "Hisashi has always been an overly charismatic, charming man who gives off an air of excitement and intrigue to whoever happens to be near him. It's what drew me to him, and I imagine it's what draws the other women in as well."

"Other women?" Holy shit. Deku's dad is a modern-day Casanova.

"Yes, other women. He's not exactly loyal, never has been. When I was young and in love, I didn't really care. I just felt so lucky to have someone as smart and handsome as Hisashi. After I had Izuku, my perspective changed quite a bit, but I didn't want Izuku to be raised in a broken home, so I continued to live with it."

I can't even imagine being in that position. This just further cements my decision that love is a waste of fucking time.

"Anyway, when Izuku was a little over three, I took him to the park to play. I had this feeling all day that someone was watching us, but I never saw anything, so I shook it off as paranoia. But then while Izuku was playing in the sandbox, a strange woman walked up to him. I was sitting on a park bench and I couldn't have been more than ten feet away from them. I got up and went over to them immediately but before I could get there, she grabbed his arm." Her voice broke as she spoke, reliving something that must have scarred her for life.

"A dark purple glowed around his arm, and my Izuku immediately started screaming like she had stabbed him. I picked him up as soon as I could and confronted her. I asked her what the hell did she just do to my baby boy and she just laughed and told me I'd see soon enough. At this point other parents were becoming concerned with all the commotion and flocked to us. Before she fled the scene, she told me that I didn't deserve a man like Hisashi, and I should free him from the ball and chain I have around his ankle."

"Jesus. Well, what the fuck did she do to him" I'm stunned. The idea that some side piece would attack a child as part of some sort of near-sighted vendetta is just unthinkable. Who the fuck does that?

"I took him to the hospital right away. They did all kinds of tests and everything came back mostly normal. It wasn't until about a year later that he started getting sick, but back then his symptoms were milder. When I took him back to the hospital, they repeated the tests and the results were- well it wasn't anything they had ever seen before. It was like his body was slowly degrading. Every year I'd bring him back, they'd repeat the tests and every year things looked worse and worse. We tried everything to fix it. Healing quirks, new age medicine, modern medicine. Nothing really worked, it just seemed to slow it down to a crawl. Right before Izuku applied to UA, one of his doctors called us in for a sit-down conversation. He said as the disease progresses, Izuku's body will slowly start to shut down and eventually, he will succumb to it."

My chest inflated as I took in a sharp breath. It felt like the world had just pulled the rug out from under me. The air burned in my lungs, I felt like I couldn't remember how to exhale and god fucking damnit even if I could remember there's no way the air would get past the tight lump in my throat. This is too much. I'm not prepared for this. I can feel the tears threatening to leak from my traitorous eyes and I refuse to allow it.

"Katsuki, sweetie?"

"Huh" is the best I can do. I may as well be dunce face after he short circuits himself.

"Why don't you go home. Get some rest, talk to your parents and come back in the morning. I can let Izuku know you'll be back." She sounds worried. I hate it when people think I need anyone fucking worrying about me. She should be worried for Deku, not me. I'm not… I'm not… dying.

"Mhmm" I should be a fucking writer with the shit spewing out of my mouth today.

"Okay, well we'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Katsuki." I watch as she gets up to return to Deku. I know I need to talk to him about all this, but I need to fucking process this shitstorm first.

XXX

I don't remember the walk back to my house. I don't remember climbing the staircase to my room or passing out in my bed. It was all a blur, a moment in time I didn't care to remember. The salty, savory scent of bacon sizzling in its own grease was what finally woke me the next morning. It's well past the time I usually get up, at least two hours later. The guilt I felt was still surging inside me, not as harshly as before but enough that I considered going back to sleep.

With a groan, I roll out of bed, refusing to let this be a defining moment of weakness. A shower and clean clothes go a long way and by the time I take my place at the table, I feel a little more like myself. My parents are working together to prepare breakfast. The Hag is on bacon and eggs duty while Pops is ladling a thick, yellow batter into the waffle iron. Steam seeped out from all sides when he closed the top and turned it over to cook. It's unusually quiet. It seems that they are waiting for me to start the conversation.

"How long have you known." I see them both visibly flinch from my broach of the subject. Too fucking bad. I see no reason to beat around the bush, that isn't my style anyway.

The Hag responds, "Since around the time you two started your playdates as toddlers." Instantly, I feel the bite of betrayal nipping at my heels, the bomb I've been holding in flicks to life, counting down to a complete explosion.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! It's been that long, and you never thought to tell me? For fuck's sake, I- Jesus, I'm your son goddamn it. How could you leave me in the dark for so long?" My nostrils are flaring, and my body temperature soars as my quirk prepares for a fight or flight scenario.

"Listen, you brat. Inko wanted to keep it under wraps and asked us to remain quiet about it."

"We just wanted to respect her wishes. We figured Izuku would tell you if and when he was ready."

"Why the fuck is it some big secret, anyway?" This is the part that makes no sense to me. Why all the secrecy?

"Because they're trying to find the woman who did it. The police and that bastard, asshole of a husband of Inko's have been searching for her quietly. Hisashi seems to believe she can reverse whatever she did to him, so they want to find her in a way that doesn't force her into hiding." I hear the waffle iron lid slam down as the Hag is talking. When I look over, I see Pops is shaking and I think it might be the most rage I've ever seen from him.

"And Izuku wants to keep it quiet because he thinks he'll get kicked out of UA if they know he's sick." That's the only fucking thing that makes sense out of all of this, although I don't think they'd kick him out at this point. I wonder if All Might knows? Or better yet, if he knew when he gave his quirk to Deku.

"Look, son. We don't support how you found out about all of this, but we are both relieved that you finally know. Your mother and I are going to go pay them a visit and you are certainly welcome to come with us if you feel up to it."

"Tch"

"Is that a yes, brat?"

"Yes, I would like to fucking go. Okay?" I didn't even think that was a question worth asking.

The rest of the morning is quiet enough. I eat everything before going back to my room to grab my phone. There's a single message from the nerd.

FuckingDeku: I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I do want you here.

It looks like he sent it last night. Knowing he wants me there does something to me, I get a weird fluttery feeling in my stomach and my face warms. I push that to the back of my mind, not wanting to think too much on it as I head back down the stairs and announce that we are leaving. Neither of them have finished their coffees but they must notice my urgency because they set their mugs down, slip their shoes on and we're out the door in minutes.

Entering the hospital as a proper guest is a very different experience from what I went through yesterday. The woman at the check in desk in the lobby was kind, and quickly printed out three guest badges for us to wear. The guard by the elevators gave me a once over but when I showed him my badge, he let us through. It was an easy, straight forward path from there, no detours, no harassing interns and desk ladies. Up until we stood in front of his room, I felt relatively calm. There was a lot going on behind the scenes, the impending death of someone I thought I didn't care about and the possibly false hope that he could be saved. I pushed it all to the side for now. I can sort through that shit later when there are no witnesses.

Another change was Auntie opening the door and welcoming us with open arms. She did look a little anxious when she saw me, but nothing compared to the flesh searing glare she shot at me last night. Both of my parents hugged her tightly before rushing to the bed to make a fuss over Deku. They asked him how he was feeling and if he was ready to go back to school tomorrow. As he answered, "much better" and "I can't wait" in his usual, overly enthusiastic voice that used to grate on my nerves, his eyes were glued to me the whole time. They must have noticed because the Hag winked at me and took Pops over to talk with Auntie, giving us some semblance of privacy.

"Kacchan." His tone is soft, and he looks much better from last night. He isn't hooked up to that machine anymore and color seems to have returned to his cheeks, making his freckles look more pronounced. He has a lot of them, I don't know if I ever really noticed before.

"Deku" I respond because I honestly don't know what else to fucking say right now.

He must have noticed because he scoots over in his bed and pats the space next to him. "You wanna watch this hero documentary with me? It only started ten minutes ago."

"Tch, yeah okay." I sit in the space he made for me, our shoulders and thighs pressed tightly together from our close proximity. It reminds me of when we were younger, practically glued at the hip. The moment feels fragile and candid and I don't want it to end. I'm pretty sure I've just signed myself up for a lifetime of therapy, but I don't regret it, not even a little.